Our Programs

BREAKING THE CYCLE:

EMPOWERING WOMEN WITH EDUCATION & LIFE SKILLS

Kenmare High School is an accredited alternative high school that offers education as well as practical training in job and life skills for women aged 17 and older.

At Kenmare, we help young women obtain a high school education and practical work skills. We also help them to change their lives by giving them the discipline, tools, and experience that enables them to disprove the lessons in hopelessness that ring their lives, in their background, their living environment and their lack of success in traditional schools. We help our women learn to believe in themselves.

We are currently registering students for the 2018-2019 school year which will begin on Monday September 10, 2018. Registration dates are on the following Fridays:

Friday, May 11, 2018

Friday, May 18, 2018

Friday, June 1, 2018

Friday, June 8, 2018

Friday, June 15, 2018

Registration is at 9:00am sharp. Please call in advance to schedule your preferred registration date. Students can enroll before the start of any trimester.

If you are a prospective student and can not attend the scheduled dates, you are welcome to call the school at 201-451-1177 to see if we can schedule another time for you to register and test.

Program:
An alternative high school for adult women.

Age Range:
17 and up

Served to date:
More than 1,000 women

Average enrollment:
50 students

Staff:
8 Full-time

The women who come to Kenmare High School are hampered by several debilitating realities:
1. Few have family support systems;
2. A changing Welfare system that is time-sensitive, yet offers few opportunities for developing skills needed to earn a living-wage within those timelines;
3. A lack of reading, writing and basic skills that they must acquire if they are to be minimally prepared to enter, much less compete in, the technology-driven and sophisticated business market now dominating the Jersey City area.

Facilities:
Located within Jersey City, New Jersey, Kenmare High School provides students with a clean, professional atmosphere that enhances the learning environment. Facilities include computer labs, a science lab, and classrooms geared to individualized and peer learning. There is also a warm and comfortable lounge area and a lunch room equipped with a refrigerator, microwaves and a vending machine.

Services Provided:
Secondary education remains a critical component of York Street Project’s holistic approach to alleviating poverty among individual and female-headed households. Our women become a model for their children as well as other members of their families and community as they strive to better themselves through education and employment.

At Kenmare, students receive an accredited high school diploma. The curriculum is skill-based and there is a full-time social worker who meets with women individually and in small groups. The daily program has both structured study and periods of free time where women can receive tutoring and guidance from teachers or use time to read, catch up on assignments or utilize the Internet for research and enrichment. In addition, a structured and coordinated job skills program exposes the women to professionals in a variety of careers and professions, provides opportunities for job shadowing and internships in areas that they express interest for their future.

Meeting their needs
Working with each woman, our staff of teachers and social worker creates a detailed analysis of her educational needs. We then tailor our curriculum and class structure to best meet these needs. With a low 8:1 student teacher ratio, these classes offer a level of attention unheard of in traditional schools. As our women begin to succeed in our disciplined academically rich environment, we measure their progress in two ways: in their ability to achieve within a classroom setting and in their ability to apply that knowledgein their own lives.

Looking beyond the classroom…
For many of our women, each day in class is a victory — a deeply personal victory over their past circumstances. While it is each woman’s responsibility to fight this battle, at Kenmare they don’t do it alone. Whether in the halls, over lunch or in employment- and life-skills classes, we work with them, sharing strategies and real-world advice. But most importantly, we listen. We listen to their stories, their fears, and their dreams for their future.

Graduation Day
At Kenmare, all of our women graduate. For many, it’s receiving their high school diploma, at times being the first in their families to do so. For others, graduation comes in a different form. Time and again, our women who have not completed their stay at Kenmare come back to tell us that our lessons in discipline and self-respect have enabled them to begin new lives, which may include receiving technical training or earning their GED and going on to college.